Art Education and Vino Van Gogh

Stacey is in her 20-somethingth year as a high school art teacher. She is forever revamping her curriculum—throwing out what doesn’t work and bringing in new ideas from her reading in the pedagogy of art. One method often used in art is the recipe-driven approach in which the students combine art ingredients and copy a successful composition to produce acceptable, even beautiful, pieces. The commercially successful Vino Van Gogh uses this approach:

Here is a sample of the kinds of images that participants might paint:

Of course, Stacey is doing more than that. She is asking her beginning and intermediate high school students to create their own art, in this case to illustrate a song. Here’s what she drew out last night for “American Pie.”